Sergio Muñoz was only seven years old when he was in a Tower Records and discovered the "Alive!" album of the band Kiss. He was mesmerized by the cover, with its '70s-glam frenzy of studs, smoke, and make-up. Isolated and lonely, a recent immigrant from Mexico, Muñoz connected with the band’s fantasy life. 

In the liner notes, Gene Simmons told his fans, "I can see you from the corners of my eyes and I know what you do when the lights go out." Creepy — but not to a seven-year-old. "I didn't understand what it was that he was saying," Muñoz remembers. "Instead of being frightened by it I was actually really comforted by it. Gene Simmons would be watching me and helping me along." Muñoz imagined Simmons would help him with his homework, a rock-god guardian angel.

Now Muñoz works with kids in Los Angeles as a community artist, using illustration and storytelling exercises to help students express themselves. He encourages them to draw confidence from being different, a value he learned from Kiss. "A certain level of craziness is something that should be pursued," he says.

(Originally aired April 6, 2012)

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An illustration from the story Gamma Rae by Sergio Muñoz

(Sergio Muñoz)